Reversible rotary engine.



G. R. REID. REVERSIBLE ROTARY ENGINE.

APPLIGATION FILED FEB. 17, 9112. 1,056,833.

Patented Mar. 25, 1913.

ami mason C. R. REID.

REVERSIBLE ROTARY ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 17, 9112.

LQbGfiSS. Patented Mar.25,1913.

6 SHEBTS-SEBET 3.

W I I mama C. R. REID.

REVERSIBLE ROTARY ENGINE.

LPPLIUATION FILED 313.17, 9112.

1 056 833 Patented Mar. 25, 1913.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

G. R. REID. REVERSIBLE ROTARY-ENGINE. APPLIOATIUH IILBD FEB. 17, 9112.

1,056,833, Patented Mar. 25, 913.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

gmve/htoz c. R. REID. I REVERSIBLE ROTARY ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 17, 91l2.

Patmzmd Mar. 25, 1913.

s mums-sum 6.

CHARLES R. REID, or HEiDELBERG, nIssIssIPPI.

REVERSIBLE noun: Enema.

Specification of. Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 25, 1913.

To all whomz't concern: y m

v Bait known that I, CHARLEs R. REID, citi- ,zen' of the 'United"Stat'es,' residing'at Heidel berg in the county of Jasper and State of .Mlssissippi, have invented certain new and -use ful- Improvements in Reversible Rotary I Engiheaotwhi'ch ollo'wing is a. specifi-' fl-tien;

,ticularlyto, rotary engines of that type in {which the rotor "is provided. with rotor pcasi ngfis' provided with a'movable "abutment shift'ableinto and out .of-contact sidafi u m nt, rPrimanilythe invention aims toprovide a fl li'otary en Gl-Qfa simple and particularly ?with inlet;and outlet valves disposedon each "so a'rranged-t-hat the engine may be reversed when desired by a simple manipulationof proper valves, or istopped,-entirely. Aiiother'object of the invention is to proiyi'dejefl'ective means for packing between the rotor and the casing, such means-includin-g; devices whereby the pressure of the packing the-casingmay be adjusted seas to'provide for a steam-tightpacking hetween the rotor and the casing itself.

r f further object is to provide 'a laterally sliding abutment and. mechanism for opcrating the same, thus simplifying the operating mechanism of the 1 abutment and further rendering it possible to provide means for reducing the frictional engagement between the abutment and the face of m the rotor by providing a construction wherethe'abnt-ment as it slides laterally to permi t the passage ofthe I piston blades lifts from the-'faceof the rotor. 9

Still another object of the invention in: {this-connection is to provide means whereby the abutment member proper may be readll'y 4'5Iremovedtapermit'repa r or replacement of theabutment, andv furtherto'provlde means 'whereb the abutment may be yleldlngly ."forced. y adjustable'means into proper en- 1 ga ement with the face of therotor;

further object of the invent on is to 'fprovide a very simple and posltively opthe mechanism.

' I invention-relates'to engines, and Iparone or more radially disposedrigid blades, and the,

the 'faceofthelrotorand also provided- -or readjustment.'

' eiiective c aracter having the parts thereof wherein valve operating mechanism, brok Applicatio'n filed February 1 7, 1912. I Serial No. 678.250.

e'rated valveand abutment actuating means which maybe read ly adjusted and repaired without removal- A still further'objectiis to improve the construct onof the rotor casing so 'as'to'perm'it the face plate of the rotorlcasing to bei readily removed when it is desired to-repai'r; or replace the rotor, the removable faceplate -m t 15 moved and the packing e faceplate of the rotor casing to be easily repaired or replaced.

Another-object is-to provide a cam for primarily actuating the valves and abut ment of the engine, this'cam being formed in sections so that the parts may be readily assembled or readily ta enapa'rt for repair Other objects will appear in the courseof the following description.

xAnlembo'dimentof my invention is illustrated -'in "the accompanying drawings,

' Figurel is a perspective view of my improved engine assem ton perspective view of the rotor casing, the rotor therein, the cam for o crating the valves and abutment, and the a utment and the parts being en'away so as to show the manner of operation of-the Valves and abutment; Fig. 3 is an end elevation of my. improved engine looking toward the rotor casing and the valve chests; Fig. 4'is a vertical section on the line 4-4 of'Fig. 5, the front plate of the rotor casing being removed; Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section. through'the engine on the line 55 of Fig. 3; Fig. flis a plan view of the valve and steam chests of the englne, .the cam for operating the valves and abutment and the connecting mechanism for the valves and abutment; Fig.7 is a erspect-ive detail view of the rotor and pac ing ringstherefor, the packing rings being separated from each other so as to show their relation to the rotor; Fig. 8 isa detail perspective view of the sectional abutment removed fromthe abutment casing; Fig. 9' is a frag-.-

mentary sectional View throu h a portion of the rotor casing and throng thepacklng rings-thereof and the rotor, this VIBW-ShOW- of any internal parts of devices thereofled; Fig. 2 is askele-' 55 13 to accommodate the projecting end of the ing particularly the means whereby ,the packing rings are adjusted against the face of the rotor; Fig. 10 is a partial sectional view of the piston blade; Fig. 11 is a per spective view of the sectional piston blade,

. mounted preferably upon a bed plate, designated 2, carrying at its ends the shaft supporting standards or pillars 3 and 4. The bed plate is widened at its middle for the support of the rotor casing and rotor and is provided at its side edges with the up standing flanges 5 engaging with the out side edges of the rotor casing base, and the bed late is also provided with the upstanding ug 6 engaging with the lateral side edges of the rotor baseso that the rotor casing is centered upon the bed plate 2 and is held rigidly thereon. The rotor casing is preferably made in two sections. One of these sections, designated 7 comprises one side of the rotor casing, the base plates 8 therefor which are'cast or otherwise formed in oneiece with the section 7', and the gnarginal ange 9 which forms the circumference of the rotor casing. The casing is closed by means of a face plate, designated 10, conforming in outline to the shape of therotor casing and detachably connected "there with by means of bolts llor other suitfgbl 'attaching devices. Preferably the sec- .tion--' ?-,,base plates 8'and the flanges 9. are

all'fcastlor otherwis'e formed in one piece. Thesection 7. and the face section or plate loiare both annular in eneral form. That is' they are both provi ed with a centrally disposed? relatively large opening 12 the inner section 7 is not a perfect-ring but is flat on top to provide for the attachment concentric withthe shaft of the rotor. The frontplate 10 has the form of a ring, but

i of the valve plates as will be later described.

The front annular plate 10 is cut away as at abutment casing which passes through the i plate 10, and disposed at the margin of this opening are the vertically arranged flanges 14 upon which is detachably mounted a cover plate 15, as shownin Figs-3 and 5.

As 'will be seen from. Fig. 5, the inner lma rgin of the plate 10 and the inner margin of the rear plate 7 are each formed with angular inwardly projecting flanges 16 adapt ed to accommodate certain rotor-packing rings as will be later vdescribed. Passing through suitable bearings mounted upon the standards 3 and 4 and journaled therein in any suitable manner is the shaft 17 as illustrated in Fig. 5. Keyed upon this shaft or otherwise attached so as to revolve therewith is the rotor 18 Projecting from .the rotor isasleeve 19 carry ing a valve and abutment actuating cam as willbe later described. This shaft-17 forms the main driving shaft of the machine and from it power may be taken as by means of the band wheel 20 keyed or otherwise attached to the shaft. The rotor 18 as illustrated in Figs. 5 and 7 and particularly in Fig. 2 consists of a circular disk of lessdiameter than the rotor chamber designated21-and inclo-sed by the rotor casing, and this rotor is shown as provided with a radial blade designated 22 having a length equal to the radial depth of the rotor chamber 21. The rotor is preferably formed with the oppositely disposed hubs 19 and 23 for the purpose of supporting therotor packing rings as will be later described. As illustrated in Figs. 2 and 4, the upper 'portion of the rotor casing is provided withthe oppositely disposed inlet ports 24 and 24 and the oppositely disposed exhaust ports25 and 25, these ports being disposed on each side beyond the inlet ports, there being an exhaust port and an inlet port arranged on each side of the abutment 26.

The abutment 26 slides laterally into the steam space 21 and is reciprocated laterally into and out of the path of travel of the piston blade 22. The abutment is contained within an abutment casing, shown in Fig. 5

and designated 27. The forward end-of this casing is closed by the plate 15 as previously described. The upper end of the casing closed by a removable plate 28, supporting means whereby the abutment may be yieldingly forced downward into yielding contact with the face of the rotor.

The sliding abutment is preferably formed in two sections as illustrated in Fig. 8. One of these sect-ions is designated 29 and the other 30. The section 29 has projecting from it a rod 31 screw threaded at the end as at 32, whereby to provide means for connecting the abutment to a connectingrod or pitman. The section 29 is formed at its rear end with a laterally projecting shoulder 33 and the face .of the section 29 is vertically grooved as at 34. The section 30 is formed with a relatively wide shoulder 35 at itsouter end defining one wall of a vertically disposed groove 36, the groove being defined by a shoulder or flange 37 on the inner margin of the section 30. It will be seen therefore that when the parts are placed together the flange 37 will fit within the groove 34. While the flange or shoulder 33 will fit witgiin the groove .36.

ment proper, from contact with the face .of

' clear the face of the rotor and the-rotor as out of the path of movement ofthe piston g blade, I form the upper margin of the sec- 15 tion 30 with a shoulder 38 having an upwardly .and outwardly inclined lower face 39 co-acting with anupwardly and outwardly inclined shoulder '40 defining the lower wall of'a recess 41 side wall. of the abutment casing, as'illustrated in Fig. 4 and in dotted lines in Fig. 5.- It will be seen, that the inclined faces of the shoulder 38 and of the shoulder or out upon the nuts that it ispossible to contact with each other and that as the abutment is drawn outwardly these upwardly and outwardly inclined faces will cause-the abutment to lift' so-as to entirely thus prevent any frictional, engagement between these faces. Furthermore when the abutment has been drawn fully over it is some distance above the face of'the rotor so that as it moves back to its normal move inward without engaging or catching upon-the corner of the rotor, thus eliminating the necessity of a. very fine adjustment between the face of the abutment and the rotor. Thus if the rotor should be slightly out of true, there would be no catching between the abutment and the rotor. Furthermore it will be seen that even'when the abutment is in its outward position, as shown in Fig- 5, the abutment section 30 may rise and fall independently of the'section 29 and thus accommodate itself to any irregularity in the curvature of the rotor, which irregularlty may occur from .an unequal wear on the several parts.

The abutment member30 is held in yielding contact with the face of the rotor by the means shown in Fig. j

Disposed in the upper portion of the abut-' ment casing immediately below the plate 28 is; a platen or plunger 42 which is guided between vertical shoulders formed in the side wall of the abutment casing and which bears upon the upper face of the abutmentmember 26. 'The plate 28 is formed with an upwardly projecting tubular casing 43 and the plunger 42 is provided. wlth the upwardly pro ecting rod or stem 44 whlch projects into the casing 43. The upper end of this stem is reduced and surroundmg this reduced portion is a coiled spring 45.

Disposed upon this coiled spring is a reladegree of the abutment is drawn. laterally formed in the position it will tively small tubular I sleeve. 46.. Screw ing 43 is an adjusting pin 47 having a many sided head, whereby awrench may be ap plied to the inner end of the screw pin bearing upon the sleeve 46. It. will be ob- VlOlJS that by turningthe screw pin in one or the other direction the tension of the spring 45 may be read-ily'adjusted. and the pressure upon-the plunger 42 adjusted.

The rod 31 projects out through the wall 27 ofthe abutment casing and its reduced end passes through the downwardly turned end of an angular strap 48 forming a connecting rod; A washer 49 is disposed between the downwardly turned end of the strap 48 and the enlarged portion of the rod 41 and lock nuts 50..are applied to the reduced portion of the rod so-as to hold the rod 31 and the strap 48 in proper engagement with each pther. Itwill be obvious that by inserting washers and screwing up correctly adjust the abutment relative to the connecting strap'48. The strap 48 is attached by means of av bolt 51 to a slide 52 mounted between the upper and lower guide plate's53 and 54 .asshown in- Fig. l, and

this slide is reciprocated by means of a cam as will be later described.

. Disposed upon the top of the rotor casing is a plate 55 forming. the bed plate or base, plate for the inlet and exhaust valves as will now be described. There are two of these plates 55 and they. are disposed on either side of the abutment casing. It will be understood, however, that while I describe these parts 55 as being plates as if separate and distinct from the rotor casing, they might be formed integral with the rotor casing. Each of these plates 55 is provided with an inlet port. 56 and anexhaust port 57. These ports have the form of transversely extending slots, as shown in Fig. 6, and are coincident of course with the ports .24 and 25 immediately below.

Uprising from'the plates 55 are the walls 58 which define and surround valve chambers 59 and 60, the valve chamber 59 in'closing an inlet Valve 61, while the valve chamber 60 incloses an exhaust valve 62. (low ering the top of the valve chests 59 and 60 is a plate 63 which forms the top of the exhaust valve chest 60. This plate is fornied as shown in Fig. 4 with an outlet port'64 from which an exhaust pipe 65 extends and with a port 66 disposed over the inlet valve chamber 59. This port 66 opens into a steam chest 67. It will be understood that there are two of these steam chests, one for each of the inlet ports 24'and v24*. The

steam chest for the port 24 is designated 6?, while the steam chest for the port 24 is designated 67?. Each of these chests 67 and Both of these steam chests arealways filled with live steam.

Thebottom of each of the valve chests 59 and 59 is longitudinally slotted as at 70 and disposed within each of the valve chests 59 and 59 is.a sliding valve 61 which is provided witha downwardly'extending pin gitudinally extending 71. This pin passes downward and is engaged with a sliding rod 72. Thereware two of these sliding rods of course and each sliding rod is guided between 1011-, fixed members 73 supported at one end by being bolted to the rear ends of the plates 55 and at their outer ends being supported upon a cross piece 74, as illustrated in Fig. 1, The plates 53 and 54: are bolted to these longitudinal members 73 and said plates 53 and 5% project beyond the inner member 73, as shown in Fig. 1, so as toform guides for the slide 52-, as previously-described. It will be seen that these plates 53 and 54, while detachable, actto hold the rods 72 in proper position between the guides 73 and prevent any accidental disarrangement' of the sliding rods 72, while beingc'apable of being removed ,so as'to permit the removal of the rods 72, guides 7 3 and the removal of the slide 52. A plate 'Z ltextends over the outer ends of the guides '7 3 as illustrated in Fig. 1, therods 72 extending into the space defined by he-ends of the guides '73 and the platesfl t and 75. p

Both valve rods 72 are reciprocated together and to. this end are connected by means of a yoke 76 which is bolted or otherwise attached to a slide 77 moving between the guides 73 and movable into thespace defined by the plates 7& and T5 and the inner guides 73, as illustrated in Fig. 6.- There are two of these yoke bars 76, one of them, previously the upper faces of the rods 72 and guides 73, while the other 78 is located on the under faces of these rods 72. Projecting downwardly '76 and '78 is a pin 79 which engages in a shown in Fig. This cam track is so arranged that upon each complete rotation of the rotor the rods 72 are given a complete reciprocation to open the inlet valves, hold them open torany desired length of time and then close them at the moment that the piston blade is passing the abutment and until such time as the abutment again comes back to its normal position. 'A cam track is also provided for reciprocating the abutment so referred to, being placed uponfrom the middle of the yoke bars 1,oee,ssa

as to draw the abutment to one side to permit the passage of the piston blade'and then force the'abutment inward to its normal position after the piston blade has passed.

To provide means for cutting oil the steam entirely or for admitting steam to one or the other side of the piston blade so as to cause a rotation of the rotor in one or the other direction, I provide the cut-cit valves 80 and 80, these valves being located within the steam chests 67 and 67 a and sliding therein to their closed or opened positions. These valves are intended to be manually reciprocated so as to cut oif the admission o-f'steam through either the port 66 or "the port 66 and thus cut oil or admit steam to' one or the other of the ports 24 and 24?. For the purposeof manually actuating these valves, I have provided the rocker arm 81 which is pivoted at its middle upon-a bracket as I 82 projecting from and forming the outer end of the abutment casing, this bracket bemg :bolted to a projecting portion of the plate 55. The rocker arm 81 is connected ,on opposlte sides of its pivotalpoint with the valves 80 and 80 by means of connect ing rods 83. Each of these connecting rods extends from the under' face of the rocker arm 81 beneath, the plate 55 and carries at its. end an upwardly projecting pin or bolt 84 (see Fig. 13) which passes up-through the valve 80 or 80*, the other face of the valve being strengthened by a reinforcing member 85 through which the boltpasses.

The valve is of course the same width as the valve chest in which it moves and as a consequence it is guided in its reciprocations.- The valve is held down upon the face against which it slides by the steam or other fluid pressure behind the valve. It will be seen that when a Valve is moved inward itcuts 05 the steam and prevents the entrance of steam'firomthe steam chest into the inlet valve chest immediately beneath and when the valve isnmovedv outward it permits the entrance of steam. Further, it will be seen that by moving therocker'arm 81 to its middle position both of the'valv'es will be shifted to cut oil position, andiurther, it will be seen that by shifting. the rocker arm more or less the amount of steam which passes from the steam -chest -to the engine may be regulated. The rocker arm 81 therefore and its attached parts constituted means whereby all steam may be cut off from the engine, be admitted to one or the other side of the opposite valve to cause the rotor to move in one or the other direction.

It will be obvious that the exhaust valves must move in correspondence with the controlling valves 80 and 80 so that'when, for instance, the controlling valve 80 1s open the exhaust valve 62 will opened and vice versa. This is the position of the parts or whereby the steam may same in Figt, where the 'steam entering throughtheporfi 24fistrikes the piston, ro-

tates: therotorin the directio'nof the-arrow and? the exhaust passes out of the exhaust port and'into the exhaust valve chamber .65.' When the, rocker arm is shiftedinthe op- .GO and out through the -.exhaust pipe posite direction, the valve 80 is opened and the1valve-80nis closed. 'As a consequence m steam wrllenter the steam space 21' through the port 2t and act'reversely upon the pistoinkin- .which case the port- 25 becomes the exhaust port and thevalve 62 is opened,

. while theivalve 62isc1osed.

.15, As a means of packing therotor and pis- 2S there-tor so as toprovide oppositely projecting shoulders. The main portion of the rotor is spaced from the opposite sides of the casing, as will be seen in Fig. 5, and in that spaceis located certain packing rings.

Mounted in sockets in the projecting head 2315f the' rotor are the radially extending 87 which are screw threaded interme diatei their ends as at "88 for engagement with-the tightenin nuts 89. Surrounding each of the 8 is a coiled spring90. Loosely mounted upon eachof' the pins 87 'is an archate section 91. As illustrated,

there are four of these sections which to gether form a split ring separated or split at four different points. These sections fit loosely upon the ends of the pins 87 and the-springs 90 thereon act' to force the sections resiliently outward. By tightening up'or retracting the, corresponding nut 89 3&5 the springs90 may be more or less tightened or loosened and thus the force with which the sections 91 are urged outward may be .adjusted- Surrounding the circumference of the ring formed bythe sections 91 and disposed immediately against each face of the rotor are the split packing rings 92. Surroundingthese rings in turn and bearing-against the face of the rotor are the split packing rings 93. These rings 92and 93 have a width only equal to half thedepth of the sections-91 and disposed between these rings 92 and 93 and bearing against the outside faces of the same are the splitpacking rings 94 which have a radial width equal to the combined radial widths of the rings 92 and 93. j

The faces of the rotor casing are provided at a plurality of points with the thickened portions or bosses 95, as illustrated partlcu- 'la-rlywell in Figs. 3, 5 and 9,-and' also shown tional engagement with the packing rings the rotor, making a steam-tight joint.

socket and surrounding this pin is a coiled in 1. Through these bosses 95 pass the packmg adjusting screws- 96, as illustrated in Fig. 9. ;I ese adjusting screws have square out-er ends for engagement with a wrench, while'the inner ends of the adjust mg screws bear against the rings 94, as clearly shown in Fig. 9.' By tightening up on these adjusting screws, the rings 94 will be forced inward and into more or less fric- 92 and 93. 'These packing-rings may be formed of any suitable material and by their use it is possible to secure -a perfectly steam-tight engagement between the rotor and the casing without at the same time subjecting the rotor to such friction as will necessitate the expenditure of a great amount of power to overcome thefriction. It will be seen that the springs 90- tend to force the sections 91 outward and theseiu turn force the packing rihgs'92,"93 and 94 radially but-ward. These rin s being split .will beresiliently'expanded by means of the springs against the inside face of the rotor casing. At the same time the springs 97 which are acted upon by the screw pins 96'willresiliently press inward against the packing rings 94,. 92 and 93 and force the rings 92- and 93 against the inside face of The pistonblade is constructed as illus-- 5 trated in detail in Figs. 10 and 10. The body of the blade is designated98 and is formed with laterally projecting flanges 99 which are attachable to the hubs of the rotor 100 .as shown in Fig. 4,- the rotor being radially slotted or cut away to receive the body'98 of the. piston blade and permitits removal or replacement, 'as indicated clearly in the diagrammatic view, Fig. 2. Projecting upward from the body portion are two spaced ears 100, and'the body portion 98 is provided at its middle between these cars with a socket 101 Within which is disposed acoiled spring 102 which expands outward. Disposed between the ears 100 are the sectionsl03 and 104. These are formed with overlapping portions 105 less in thickness than the main body of the sections, these overlapping portions having sliding engagement with each other. Both of these sectlons are cut away at the middle as at 106 and each is provided with .a socket 107. .A pin 108, shown in dotted .lines in Fig. 10, is disposed in said spring 109 which acts to force the sections outward. It will thus be seen that these sections are laterally expanded resiliently against the side walls of the rotor casing and that both of these sect-ions are forced outward against the circumferential wall of the rotor casing byfmeans of the coiled spring 102. I thus secure a steam-tight engagement between the piston blade and the rotor casing, with, however, a minimum of 130.

friction. This packing prevents the steam from passin around either side of the wing or blade an the spring 102 forces the pack--- packing that the steam will to a certain extent lubricatethis packing so that friction between the packing and the rotor or-be tween the packing andthe. rot-or casingwill .be reduced to a minimum, while at the same time a perfectly steam-tight fit is assured.

For the purpose of operating at predetermined times the abutment and 'the inlet valves, I have provided a cam,'"des ignated generally 110.- This cam is formed with two cam tracks 111 and 112. Thecam track 111 is-for the purpose of operating the valves, while thecam track 112 operates the abutment. Each of the pins 51 and 79 are provided with rollers 113 so that an easy anti-.

frictional'contact is secured between the side walls of the cam tracks and the pins.

Preferably the cam 110 is peculiarly constructed and formed in sections so thatit may be readily made and the parts readily assembled. By referring to Figs. 1 and 5'it; will be seen that the cam consists of a mainbody portion 114 having a hub surrounding the shaft 17 and rotating therewith, said hub projecting to a- 'relatively: slight degree on one side of the main body portion 114 and to .a longer degree-on the other side of this main body portion as at 115. This projecting hub or sleeve 115 contacts with the projecting hub 19 of the rotor 18, as shown in Fig.- 5, and is rigidly connected therewith by means of longitudinally extending bolts 116 passing through the ends of the hub.

The outer section of the cam is designated 117 and comprises an annular plate having an inwardly projecting flange 118 adapted to engage with'a flange 119 formed upon the central body portion 117 so that when the two portions 117 and 114 are assembled they will be-separated' from each other a space greater than the widthof the cam track 111.

The inner face of the annular plate 117 is faced for a'po-rtion of its length with a cam face plate 120, while the outer face of the 121 are formed of steel; while the body porflange 119 is faced for a port-ion of its length witha cam plate 121. Thee pla'es 120 and .tion 114 andthe plate 117 with its flange 118 may be formed of cast iron, as it is only the inclined orcam'faces which have any wearing engagement with the rollers mounted upon the pins 7 9 and 51. 'The thirdsection of the cam is designated 122, thissection being formed of cast iron having a central .hub engaging with the hub of the section-114 so as to hold the sections in spaced relationto each other. The adj'acent'faces of the portion 114 and the plate'l22 -are provided along proper portions of their length with thesteelcam'face plates 123 and 124.

These cam faced plates maybe held to the portions 117, 114-ar1d 122by meansof countersunk bolts or like devices. The three sections of the camareheld ifi engagementwith each other by longitudinally extending bolts 125, as illustrated in Fig." 1. It will be seen that this construction permits the cant to be readily manufactured and the parts readily assembled, and also permits the re moval and renewal at any time desired of the cam faces forming the outer and inside walls of the cam grooves. I

The operation of my engine will 'be'perfectlyfobvious from whathas gone before and generally speaking requires no further description. It may be stated, however, that the reversing mechanism described by me is of particular value inasmuch as it is posi-- tive in its action and provides not only for a reversal of the engine, but for cutting off or cutting down the amount of steam admitted to the rotor casing. It is extremely simple, requires no complicated valve gears. nor

does it require stufiing boxes in the steam chest, as before described.

It-is well known that one of the principal problems in the construction of a rotary en gine is the provision of packing Wl11Cl1,Wl11lB preventing the passage of steam around the pistonbladeor blades, or'around the abut-v ment, will not actto impede the rotation of improved packing is such that it maybe readily'adjustedwhile the engine is running so as to prevent any waste of steam and at the same time prevent any waste of power.

It willbe seen that my improved engine is, so constructed that -all of the parts are readily assembled and that there is no difficulty in getting at the rotor, piston or the packing, and that the valve mechanism may I vthe engine or cause .a waste of power. M i

also be readily repaired. It is pointed fout particularly that the packing rings upon the rotor may be controlled without the necesof the fact that the lateral pressure of the packing rings is adjusted entirely by the screws 96 and the radialpressure ofthe packing is controlled by the nuts @Slfwhich are always exposed in such aip'osition that they may be readily operated. E 'irthermore, it will be seen that the amount-of pressure exerted 'upon' the abutment maybe -readily adjusted by means of the screw 47.

and againit is pointed out in this connection that I haveprovided an important improvement in rotary engines by providing means whereby the abutment will lift as -it moves laterally from the face of the rotor. Thus theabutment is held in steam fiight contact with the face ofv the rotor and yet sity of opening the rotor casing, by reason 115.

freed from the face of the rotor when it is. abutment out of the necessary to shift the way of the piston blade.

It will be perfectly obvious that the particular form of the cam tracks 111 and1112 ,may be changed as desired so as to cause the inlet valves of .timed'esired-and to cut' off at any desired period. It willbe obvious that as this 'is a matter of detail entirely familiar to all those who understand engine practice, thereis no change in necessity "in illustrating such structure. It will also be obvious that it is ntir'ely possible to place a pair gines as described upon the same driving shaft and to'control not only the inlet valves .tuating' device.

for controlling ever,

ments.

the .most effective form of myinvention, it will be understood that I donot wish-to be limited to the precise details of construction as illustrated and described, asmany varia-' tions in structure might be made without. departing from the spirit ofthe invention.

WhatI claim is:

. 1'. In a rotary engine, a bladed rotor, a rotor casing, an abutment laterally shiftable through the wall of the rotor casing into and out of contact with the face of the rotor,

means' operated by the rotor for laterally shifting said abutment, and means for lifting said abutment from the face of the-rotor as it moves outward and guiding said abutment toward the face of the rotor as it moves into the casing. 1 r

. 2.. In a rotary engine, a bladed rotor, a rotor casing, a laterally shiftable abutment shiftable through the wall of the rotor casing into contact with the face of the abutment, means operatedby erally shifting said abutment, and a member. having. an inclined guiding surface with which the abutment engages, whereby to cause the abutment to lift from the face. of the rotor as it'moves outward and to be depressed against said face as it movesinto the casing. y

-3. In a rotary engine, a,- bladed rotor, a

I rotor casing having an abutment opening,

an abutment casing, a laterally shiftable abutment mounted within said casing, means operated by the rotor for laterally shifting the abutment, a plunger disposed within the abutment casing and bearing against the outer end of the abutment, and yielding to admit steam for any length abutment casing and of the en-.

rotor.

flWhile I have illustrated what I regardas ed in of the rotor.

the rotor for lat means for forcing said plungeragainst the abutment. a M

4. In a rotary engine, a bladed rotor, a

an abutment casing, abutment mounted within said casing, means operatedby the rotor for. laterally shifting the abutment, a plunge'rfdisposed within the bearing against the outer end of the abutment, a spring bearingagainst said plunger and yieldingly forcing it against the abutment, and means forad justably compressing said spring.-

In a rotary engine, a bladed rotor, a. rotor casing having an abutment opening, an abutment casing disposed over said opening, an abutment laterally slidable in the cas ng into and out of the path of move-- ment of, the rotor blade, means actuated by the rotorfor reciprocating. said I abutment, means disposed in the abutment casing for lifting the abutment from the face of the rotor as it moves outward and depressing it as it moves inward, and yielding means for forcing the abutment against the face of the 6. Ina rotary rotor casing having an abutment opening,

.-an abutment casing .disposed over said open- 1ng and having laterally and outwardly inclined guide shoulders, an abutment mountshoulders contacting, Qwith the guide shoulders o-f.the casing, means for reciproeating said abutmenhand yielding means for forcing the abutment toward. the face 7-.' Ina rotaryengine, a bladed rotor, a rotor casing having an abut-ment opening, an abutment chest mounted above thejabutment opening,- a,laterally slidable abutment mounted in said chest, said abutment being made in two sections, one of said sections being outwardly shiftable .With relation to the other section, means for reciprocating the abutment, and ing the movable section of the abutment toward the face of the rotor I 8. In a rotary engine, a bladed rotor, a

'rotor casing having an abutment opening,

engine, a bladed rotor, a

said casing and having inclined means for'yieldingly-urgan abutment chest disposed above the opening, a laterally slidable abutment mounted in said chest and composed of two sections,

one of saidsections having a connecting rod passing out through the rotor chest, the other. section being outwardly movablerela- I tive to thefirst. named section, means in the rotor chest for causing the'movable section to lift as the abutment moveslaterallyoutward and to be depressed as the abutment moves inward, means operated by the rotor for causing a lateral reciprocation of theabutment, and yielding means urging" the movable section of the-abutment into con,-

tact with theface of the rotor.

abutment, means disposed within the chest r for outwardly moving the-abutment upon aprojecting flanges-engag ng the hubs of the rotor, said body portion of the blade being- 9.111 a rotary engine, a bladed r0tor,.a rotor casmghavmg an abutment opening,- an abutment chest over said opening, an

abutment section vertically and I laterally movable in said chest, a head to which the movable section is slidingly connected foroutwardmovement, said head having a rod projecting out from the chest, means actu ated by the rotor and operatively connected to the rod for causing a reciprocation of the lateral movement of the abutment out of the rotor casingand for depressing said abutment section upon a movement intothe rotor casing, aplunger bearing upon the mov-' able section of the abutment, a spring operatively engaging said'plunger-to force it inward, and a screw ,for adjusting the tension of said spring.

10.'-In a rotary engine, a rotor casing,a

rotor therein, said rotor having a radial seat formedin its margin andlaterally project. ing hubs, ablade comprisinga body portion disposed in said seat and having, laterally formed with spacedears projectingbeyond the circumference of the rotor, laterally expansible packing sect-ions disposed between said ear and means for. yieldingly urging said pa'ck'ingsections outward.

11." In a rotary, engine, a rotor, and a rotor casing, radially urged packing rings disposed between the side face of the rotor and the casing, and means on the casing for.

' A resiliently lforcing the packing rings laterally against the side faces of the rotor. .12. In a rotary engine, a r'otorcasing hav-- mg oppositely disposed side walls. and a e circumferential wall, split packing-Tings disposed'within the Easing between'the rotor and the circumferential and side walls of the rotor casing, me'ans on the rotor for resiliently urging said split packing rings outward, and means on the rotor casing'for yieldingly urging the packing rings against;

'the side face of the rotor.

' rotor casing. the rotor said arcuate members and concentric there-- to, and means passing through theside walls of the rotor casing and acting to yieldingly force said packing rings inward against the face of the rotor.

' 14. In a rotary engine. a bladed rotor. a i l formed with oppositely pro ecting'luns, pins extending radially fromsaid hubs, sprmgs surrounding said pins, arcuate sections mounted on said pins concentric to the hubs and urged outward by the springs, split packing rings. concentric to the arcuate sections and mounted thereon and disposed between the side faces of the rotor and the side walls of the";

casing, and means extending through-'- side walls of the casing for yieldingly. orc-..

'ing the packing rings against the facesof the rotor. i

15. In a rotary engine, a bladed rotor,

rotor casing, said rotor having hubs projecting on each slde'and the side walls of the rotor casing beingyspaced from the side faces" of the rotor, arcuate members resiliently supported upon said hubs concentric to the hubs, a plurality of split-inner packing rings supporting said arcuate members and .dis

posed adjacent tothe side faces of the rotor, a :spl t packing ring also mounted upon the arcuate members and bearing against the outer faoes'of' said first named packing rings, ad usting screws passing through the side walls of the casing, and springs engaged by said adjusting, screws and yieldingly bearing against the last named packing rings.

16. In a rotary engine, .a rotor casing, 21. bladed rotor therein, a shaft upon which the rotor is mounted, a cam mounted on the shaft, an abutment casing mounted upon the rotor casing, a'laterally slidable abutment mounted within the abutment casing, means for movmg said abutment radially outward simultaneous with the lateral outward movement of the abutment, a slide operatively connected to the cam for actuation thereby, and adjustable-means connecting the slide 1 and the abutment.

17. I n a rotary engine,. a rotor casing, a

rotor therein, a shaft upon which the rotor is mounted, a cam on saidshaft having a pair of cam tracks, an abutment casing I mounted uponthe rotor casing, a laterally slidable abutment in said abutment casing, a slide operatively connected to one of said cam tracks and to said abutment, oppositely disposed spaced guides within which the slide moves, a pair of inlet valves disposed on each side of the abutment and controlling the passage of motive'fluid to the rotor casing, sliding members operating in said guides and located on'each side of the abut-.

ment slide and operatively connected to said valves, and downwardly projecting pins on said sliding members engaging with the second one of said cam tracks.

'18. In a rotary engine, a rotor casing, a shaft passing therethrough, a rotor mounted on the shaft, a cam mounted on said shaft movable into and out of the rotor easing, a slide to which the abutment is o-peratively connected, guides within which said slide moves. a downwardly projecting member on said slide engaging one of said cam tracks,

and having double cam tracks, an abutment oppositely disposed valves controlling the passage of motive "fluid to the rotor casing, sliding rods connected to said valves, transversely extending yokes connecting said rods, guides within which the rods move, and a downwardly extending pin on said rods engaging the other of said cam tracks. v 19. In a rotary engine, a rotor casing,,an abutment casing 'mounted upon the rotor casing, inlet valve chests disposed on either side of the abutment casing and having ports leading into the rotor casing, exhaust valve chests disposed on each side of the pair of inlet valve chests, steam chests disposed upon the inlet valve chests, reciprocating inlet. valves mounted in the inlet valve chests, slidable exhaust valves mounted in the exhaust valve chest-s, slidable controlling valves disposed in the steam chests, manually operated means for simultaneously, reversely shifting the exhaust valves and the controlling valves, a rotor within the rotor casing, a shaft upon which the rotor is mounted, a double cam mounted upon said shaft, a laterally shiftable abutment in the abutment casing, a standard within which the shaft is journaled, guide members supported upon said standard at one end and upon thebase plate of the valvechests at the other ends, a longitudinallyreciprocab ing slide mounted in "said guide members operativel connected to one of said cam tracks an to the abutment, and a pair of longitudinally reciprocating sliding valve rods operatively connected at one end to the inlet valves and at their other ends to the other of said cam tracks, and means for admitting steam to both of 'said steam chests.

20. In a rotary engine, a rotor casing, a rotor therein, an abutment, valves controlling the passage of steam to the rotor casmg, a cam made up of sections, wear faces detachably connected to the sections and forming part of the .cam tracks and members engaging said cam track and operatively engaging the valves and the abutment, whereby to operate the valves and abutment from the cam. A a

21. In a rotary engine, a rotor casing, a rotor'therein, an abutment, valvescontrolling the flow of steam to the rotor casing a cam having a plurality of tracks and. comprising a middle section, the two'end faces of which form the inner faces of the cam tracks, oppositely disposed outer sectlons, the inner faces of whidh form the'outer faces of the cam tracks, means for detachably holding the sections together, detachable wear pieces attached to said sections at the angular portions of the cam tracks, rods operatively connected to the valves and abutment, and pins extending from said rods 'into the cam tracks.

In testimony whereof I aflixmy signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES R. REID; [L s.] lVitnesses:

M. R. MORGAN, JAB. S. MORGAN. 

